The present invention relates to a device and method for facilitating the insertion of a hollow spike into a flexible conduit.
In recent years, the demand for water to irrigate gardens and public spaces has grown exponentially. However, the supply of water has remained constant, or has declined. Therefore, ever more systems are being developed to apply the limited amount of water available. One such system is the “low flow” system which takes water along a ¼ inch tube to, for example, a bubbler and/or to another low flow emitter such as a micro sprayer, which is an outlet adapted to discharge water directly at the root of a plant with a smaller coverage diameter than the average irrigation sprinkler. The advantages of such a system include the fact that water conveyance efficiency is near 100 percent because wind and evaporation are denied their usual effect on water loss. This may provide for a shortened required time of irrigation, and thus reduces power costs. Furthermore, bubbler outlets are not easily blocked, and the low flow system provides a high water application efficiency.
In order to convert existing water distribution systems to be capable of low flow irrigation, it is generally necessary to tap into an existing water conduit with a hollow lower spike that includes an upper barbed tip configured to receive a flexible ¼ inch pipe that leads off to a low flow irrigation emitter.
One of the problems encountered in converting an existing water distribution system to be capable of low flow bubbler irrigation is that inserting the hollow spike into an existing water conduit is attended with considerable difficulty. First, it is difficult to apply pressure to a sharpened tip of a typical spike because a radially outwardly extending barbed tip on an opposite external end of the spike makes it difficult for a user to gain a suitable grip on the body of the spike without injuring himself. Second, the sharpened tip of the spike has a tendency to slip off the rounded conduit surface when pressure is applied, thereby introducing the danger of injury to the installer via the sharpened tip. Third, if the sharpened tip of the spike is not sufficiently sharp, pressure applied to the spike has a tendency to buckle the surface of the water conduit rather than pierce into it. This tendency may vary according to the relative stiffness of the water conduit, and in some cases a separate metal piercing tool must be used to initiate a hole. However, although a stiffer pipe has a smaller tendency to buckle, such pipes are more difficult to pierce and therefore increase the tendency of the spike to slide off the rounded conduit surface and potentially injure the installer. Fourth, once the spike is inserted into a conduit, any bump or knock against the spike tends to damage the seal that results between spike and conduit so that a leak tends to develop.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method for facilitating the insertion of a hollow spike through the surface of a water conduit that solves the problems in the prior art. The present invention addresses these and other needs.